GLW1606 : Buckstones Jum

Monday 23rd May 2016

Despite having been within a mile of it on many an occasion, I had never heard of Buckstone Jum until a week or so ago when Al (of Rosie, George & Leo fame) told me about it. Apparently it is well known to skinny dippers and so was an instant must for a Great Little Walk.

We parked up by St Mary's Church at Rydal where the lane was still showing damage caused by the January deluges.

Before heading for the Jum, Margaret wanted to have a look round Wordsworth's house Rydal Mount, plus its gardens.

The house is partly very old (and feels it) and partly a later extension that has been opened up somewhat since Wordsworth's day so its feeling is more like early 20th Century rather than mid 19th Century.

However, I am afraid that Wordsworth leaves me quite cold so I didn't find his memorabilia that fascinating. It is rather sobering to think how his (and those of others) lengthy tomes and pomes were so popular. I suppose pre television and radio people had to do something to pass the time away but it is difficult to envisage the masses raving about his works.

The gardens were probably at their best, with the rhododendrons ablaze. We spend quite a while wandering, not lonely nor as a cloud but happily enjoying the variety.

The lady in the shop advised us to go up the east side of Rydal Beck to reach the Jum. This meant we had to pass through the Rydal Hall grounds so we spent a bit more time there, noting the Alice in Wonderland theme..

Eventually we set off for the Jum, on a permissive path, sometimes touching the rough track left from when the hydro generator was installed. The waterfalls were quite a revelation and equally as attractive as many better known ones.

There were bluebells all over the place, a fantastic show and smelling wonderful as only bluebells can with that very delicate fragrance.

At the top end of the Birk Hagg wooded area, I had wondered how we would get out onto the open fell. Fortunately we found a stone stile and even more fortunately the wire across its top was not an effective barrier.

We wandered up by the side of the beck until we reached a rise around which we circled. Had we gone straight up it we would have come directly to the Jum. As it was, we saw it behind us and turned to visit. It is an overstatement to call it remarkable but not by much.

There are two pools, the upper and lower being separated by a huge sloping rock and a narrow fiercely falling stream. It is a loverly place with the arena of the Fairfield Horseshoe as its backdrop.

Why is this called a Jum? Well the clue might be in the OS maps. The 2008 edition of the OS map calls it a Jum. However the 2004 edition calls it Buckstones Jump. That made sense. An adventurous person with a good leap could cross the gap although a slip could have most unfortunate consequences.

We didn't Jump (nor Jum) although we did explore for some distance upstream to find a sure crossing place but without success. In fact I am glad we didn't as this failure caused us to return by a more interesting route, south west through High Park, almost down to Low Sweden Bridge then returning along the Rydal Park track, back through the Rydal Hall grounds to the car.

By now it was getting late so we finished of the day with a quick but tasty plate at Fat Olives then crossed the road to the Bowness Royalty cinema exactly at the advertised time to see the start of ..... 25 minutes of adverts followed by an intermission! Eventually Florence Foster Jennings made her appearance. To my surprise, she was arguably an even worse singer than me!

Don, Monday 23rd May 2016